Whoa! Are squeezable phones the next big thing?

We loved the Edge Sense on the HTC U11, that rather wondrous feature that enabled you to simply squeeze to enable camera, flashlight, with the promise of supporting other third party apps.

The Google Pixel 2 is going that route

We loved the Edge Sense on the HTC U11, that rather wondrous feature that enabled you to simply squeeze to enable camera, flashlight, with the promise of supporting other third party apps.

Now it seems set to be a thing, with rumors suggesting the next Google Pixel may boast a squeezable frame.

Android Police were the first to break the news, about the Pixel 2 XL (or Pixel XL 2) likely being be squeezable. According to Android Police, the phone will launch the Google Assistant — Google's virtual AI helper featured on the Pixel -- when you squeeze its sides. XDA Developers claimed the squeezable frame will be a way to launch Google Assistant even if the screen is off. That would be similar to the Bixby button on Samsung's Galaxy S8 or the Siri home button shortcut on the iPhone.

All this, of course, makes sense, since the Pixel phones while branded as ‘Made by Google’ are actually manufactured by HTC, with HTC having a larger hand in the design than Google is willing to admit.

Anil George

Avid follower of all things tech. In between his quest for the ultimate gizmo, Anil fiddles with light meters, collects rare books and feeds his fetish for Jap horror movies. As Managing Editor of T3 Middle East for the GCC, Anil oversees content direction across print and digital. He was a CES 2017 Innovation Awards Judge, reprising his role as an Innovation Awards Judge at CES 2015 and 2016. Reach him at: editor@t3me.com.